Sunday night Jacoby Ellsbury pulled off a stunning move: he stole home, setting off a rally that gave the Boston Red Sox a win at home. But the team issued a statement today that was more like a third strike on the third out with bases loaded, dashing hopes of a similar rally for the Boston Globe—at least one sparked by Red Sox owners.

The New England flagship has been threatened with closure by the New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) unless its unions agree to $20 million in concessions by May 1 (as in tomorrow). Separately, the company is trying to sell its 17.75 percent stake in New England Sports Ventures LLC, the partnership that owns the Red Sox, Fenway Park and 80 percent of New England Sports Network—and had offered to sell back to its partners. The idea of another kind of Globe-Red Sox match-up spurred by news reports that principal owner John Henry was interested in such a deal made a certain kind of sense, sort of like a scalped ticket that comes with a $500 pencil.

But it’s not happening, according to a statement issued today and according to the AP, which has a staff memo from publisher Steve Ainsley. The AP says he expressed hope the paper will survive the threat and said negotiations with the Times have been “substantive.”